BIOECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF 

 COLUMBIA RIVER HATCHERY COHO SALMON, 

 1965 AND 1966 BROODS, TO THE PACIFIC SALMON 



FISHERIES 



Roy J. Wahle,' Robert R. Vreeland.' and Robert H. Lander^ 



ABSTRACT 



Marked coho salmon, Oncorhyiuhus kisiiuh, smolts of the 1965 and 1966 broods were re- 

 leased from 20 hatcheries on four sections of the Columbia River and tributaries. Com- 

 mercial and sport fisheries in marine waters from Pelican, Alaska, to Avila Beach, 

 Calif., and on the Columbia River were sampled during 1967-69 for marks. 



The net value of the estimated total catch of hatchery fish was calculated after adjust- 

 ing for the effects of marking. Also estimated for each brood were the total costs of 

 rearing including amortized capital outlay. Total benefits of $8.58 million for the 1965 

 brood and $9.11 million for the 1966 brood were estimated as applicable to normal 

 production years when no marking takes place. Corresponding costs were estimated 

 as $1.29 million for the 1965 brood and $1.23 million for the 1966 brood. Estimated 

 benefit/cost ratios for the 20 Columbia River coho salmon hatcheries, as operated under 

 production regimes prevailing during the study, may prove useful in decisions affecting 

 management policies. The ratios are 6.6/1 for the 1965 brood, 7.4/1 for the 1966 brood, 

 and 7.0/1 for both broods combined. 



Use of the Columbia River has expanded tre- 

 mendously in the past 30 years through Federal- 

 ly financed and/or licensed water use projects. 

 This expansion has depleted valuable stocks of 

 Pacific salmon, 0)icorhyuchus spp., and steel- 

 head trout, Salmo gairdneri, through the loss 

 and deterioration of natural stream habitat. 

 Therefore, mitigative measures — hatcheries, 

 fish ladders, and spawning channels — to sup- 

 plement the declining natural production of 

 Columbia River salmon and steelhead trout 

 have been Federally funded. 



To counteract the severe loss of salmon and 

 steelhead trout environment in the Columbia 

 River basin, the U.S. Government began financ- 

 ing the Columbia River Develojjment Program 

 in 1949. The Program is a cooperative effort of 

 the fish management agencies of the states of 

 Oregon. Washington, and Idaho and the Federal 



' Columbia River Fisheries Program Office, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 811 Northeast Oregon 

 St., Portland, OR 97208. 



- Northwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service, NOAA. 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, 

 WA 98102. 



Government. The Columbia Fisheries Program 

 Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, Port- 

 land, Oreg., administers the Program, which is 

 designed to increase production of salmon and 

 steelhead in the Columbia River. The Program's 

 major thrust has been to improve the runs of 

 salmon and steelhead by protecting and improv- 

 ing stream environment and by production of 

 fish in hatcheries. The main accomplishment is 

 the con.struction or modernization of 21 salmon 

 and steelhead hatcheries on the lower Columbia 

 River and tributaries. 



There are two major reasons for the concen- 

 tration of effort on salmon and steelhead trout. 

 First, their life histories allow successful hatch- 

 ery i^roj^agation. Second, these sjiecies are his- 

 torically and economically important to the 

 United States. Annual catches of Pacific salmon 

 have ranked first or second for the past 3 

 decades in landed value of commercial finfishes 

 to United States fishermen. Chinook salmon, O. 

 fsliaivytscha, and coho salmon, O. kisKtch, land- 

 ings have accounted for 35% of the 6-yr average 

 (1966-71) commercial value ($70 million) for 

 salmon — $12.5 million for chinook and $11.9 



Manuscript accepted June 1973 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 1, 1974 



139 



